It’s the year 1216 and King Richard the Lionheart is long dead and his brother, King John, sits on the throne of England.  In Nottingham, the sheriff neglects the people and overtaxes them to pay for the king’s war.  But in Sherwood Forest, the notorious outlaw Robin Hood steals from the rich and gives to the poor.  When Robin Hood spots the lovely Lady Marion, the illegitimate daughter of the King Richard, he knows he must have her. 

Marion Fitzroy, princess of the blood, has secrets of her own.  On his deathbed seventeen years before, her father asked his closest friend, Sir David of Doncaster, to protect his son by any means necessary.  And protect the late king’s son he did.  The politics of times past and present collide as Marion and Robin fall in love.  But what will happen when the famed archer of Sherwood discovers his love has an “arrow” of her own?

I count on Angelia Sparrow for an interesting tale and with Heart of a Forest she and Naomi Brooks did not disappoint.  The two take the well-known tale of Robin Hood and turn it on its head with one small (or rather not-so-small) change.  Marion is an interesting hero.  She’s been raised female, and thinks of herself in the feminine, so it made the book a bit different to read, considering some of the body parts the lady possessed.  As for Robin, he’s the brash rapscallion everyone knows and loves and his sexual preferences make him take the news of Marion’s secret with remarkable aplomb.  As the book’s main villain, the Sheriff of Nottingham is truly despicable and I read on, as eager to see him get his comeuppance as I was to see Marion and Robin get their happily ever after. 

A fresh and original take on a beloved legend, Heart of a Forest is a charmingly unique read.